


Forks In The Road

by e472318



Series: Our Separate Ways [3]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 14:38:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11991819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/e472318/pseuds/e472318
Summary: Multiverse theory posits that there are an infinite number of parallel universes existing concurrently with our own, and that a new one is created from every action we take or decision we make, each choice a fork in the road. So how did this universe come to be? Part Three of the Our Separate Ways series. Some spoilers from throughout the SG-1 series.





	1. Unexpected Guests

**September 2, 2007 – Colorado Springs, CO**

"It's SG-1's IDC, sir."

"Open it up, Walter."

Brigadier General Dave Dixon gave him the order, and then headed down to the gate room.

Through the gate stepped someone appearing to be Samantha Carter, wearing a blue SG uniform and SG-1 patch. She stared at the General, apparently as confused as he was.

"Colonel, I mean, General Dixon?" she asked in bewilderment.

"Walter!" Dixon yelled out, ignoring Sam.

"There are more travelers coming, sir."

"Next, through the gate stepped another Samantha Carter, this one dressed in a long, white jacket, accompanied by Joe Faxon, Borren, Janet Fraiser, and another Aschen."

Instantly, the SFs took aim at the two Aschen.

"Check them out and secure them," Dixon ordered the SFs.

"What!? Why?" this latest Sam asked in alarm, but she was also ignored.

Next, four more people stepped through the gate. Colonel Ferretti, Colonel Wilkins, Major Hailey, and Vala entered in their black uniforms. Wilkins spotted the Aschen and immediately drew his sidearm.

"Uh, General, what's up?" Ferretti asked Dixon.

"Hell if I know, Lou."

"Walter! Get General O'Neill on the phone," Dixon called out.

"He's already here, sir."

"Dave, for cryin' out loud, I'm gone for a month, and you're already calling for help," Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill hollered as he strutted into the gate room in his blues, medals almost completely covering the front of them at this point.

The blue clad Carter smiled fondly at the man. The white clad Carter looked like she had seen a ghost.

Jack took in the sight before him. He had two Carters, neither of which belonged here, his wife, who couldn't possibly have beaten him down here carrying their daughter, and his favorite SG team.

The two Sams attempted to speak at the same time.

"Colonel, er, General, what is..." White Sam stuttered out.

"Jack, what..." Blue Sam followed.

He held a hand up to cut them off, and then looked at the Carter in the BDUs with eyebrows raised.

_Jack? Alternate realities again, I assume._

"Major Hailey! Care to explain this?" Jack asked her in a raised, exasperated voice.

"Sorry, sir. I don't have a clue."

"Well, I'm pretty certain we are dealing with alternate realities again. I need you to figure out why it is that we are dealing with them, and then how to fix it."

"Yes, sir," she answered, smiling at him.

At that, walking into the gate room came the Janet from this universe.

"Where's Lizzie?" Jack turned to ask her.

"Daniel wanted to take her for a little bit. He's not going to see her for a while after he leaves, so I figured it was fine," she stated and then kissed him quickly on the lips.

This drew raised eyebrows from the alternate Janet and both Carters.

Jack all of a sudden noticed that, among a horde of SFs, were two Aschen and Ambassador Faxon. He recognized the two Aschen instantly, because he personally killed both of them in this reality.

"Ok, folks. Keep them isolated from anyone not from their own realities. Then I need SG-1, my SG-1, in the briefing room."

"Jack, I think I know what may have happened. Something similar happened to us a little over a year ago," Blue Sam commented.

"We'll definitely chat about that then, Colonel. For now, sit tight."

...

After getting nothing of use from his team, Jack sent for the Sam that arrived alone. Moments later, she joined them and took her seat.

She looked around the table and saw Jack, with one more star than her Jack currently had, Janet, Ferretti, Hailey, Vala, and Thor that she recognized. There was also a Lieutenant Colonel that she didn't know.

_This is interesting. Jack and Janet? Where am I, well, the other me? Janet's alive? Thor is too? I need to get home, but I'm curious about this reality._

"So, Carter, you mentioned that something similar happened in your reality?" Jack asked her.

"Yes. A little over a year ago, we had over a dozen versions of SG-1 show up through our gate. We determined that the..."

"Ah, yes. The Ori black hole. I remember when our SG-1 came back from that mess. I'm guessing our Carter can be of help, then."

"Probably. Where is she?"

"Area 51. She took over the labs there after we killed the last Goa'uld."

"The last one?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yep. Turns out after we got our house in order, we got pretty good at taking out the bastards."

"What about the Ori?"

"We haven't encountered them yet, and I hope not to, at least not until we are armed to the teeth with Ancient gear."

Suddenly, Daniel walked in holding Lizzie's hand as she stumbled around on her little legs.

"Sorry, Jack, but she wanted 'Daddy'."

"It's ok, Daniel. C'mere, princess." Jack rose from his chair, lifted Lizzie, and held her in his right arm.

Blue Sam's eyes widened. The little girl had Jack's unmistakable, piercing eyes, but otherwise looked almost exactly like Janet.

_I take it things didn't go well with Jack and I here. I wonder what the hell happened. I broke his heart almost marrying Pete, and we still managed to get past that._

"Ok, I'm going to get our Carter beamed over. Hailey, you can join them to work out a way home for them."

"Yes, sir."


	2. Differences

Jack left the room with Lizzie. All of SG-1, except for Hailey, followed.

Janet was watching the conversation between her husband and the alternate Sam. This Sam had the same loving look in her eyes that her Sam often did when looking at Jack, but none of the pain and guilt. She decided to speak up.

"So Sam, it looks like there are some differences between our realities."

"I'll say, Janet. You've been dead for a few years in mine."

"How?"

"Staff blast on P3X-666 when you were working on an injured airman."

"We just visited that planet a few months ago. I didn't go, though. And there were no Jaffa there."

"So, you and Jack, huh? Are you married?"

"Yeah, for about a year and a half now. You?" Janet replied.

"Jack and I have been seeing each other for around a year now. It's tough, with him in DC, me at the SGC, and while technically we aren't doing anything wrong, we still have to keep it quiet. But it's worth it. Can I ask, were Jack and I ever together here?"

Janet chuckled. "No, you made it perfectly clear that wasn't going to happen."

"Why? What happened?"

"Oh, that is a very long story, Sam."

"Colonel Carter, I understood we are to be working on a solution to your predicament," Thor butted in sharply, apparently not as amused by the gossip as the ladies were.

"I pretty much know what we need to do, Thor. The wormholes we were traveling in must have intersected near a black hole. We just need to find the black hole, calculate the paths that will take us back that way, and detonate a weapon in the wormhole before we step through, to jump it back to the prior reality."

"I see."

"You know, Thor, you're dead in my reality too. All of the Asgard actually. The degradation problem was hopeless, so you gave us your Asgard core before you all committed mass suicide. Is that not a problem here?"

"It is not any longer, Colonel Carter. The genetic structure of O'Neill's offspring gave us the answers we needed to save our race."

Sam was shocked.

_If Jack and I had a family, my Asgard might still be around. But when was I supposed to put my career on hold for that?_

"Sam, in your reality, have you encountered the Aschen?"

"Yes, we did. We encountered them on a visit to P3A-194. In fact, we were in treaty negotiations with them until we discovered what they did to the Volian people."

"Ah, that explains, well, almost everything. Did you ever go to P4C-970?"

"No, a few weeks before we were scheduled to go there, we received a note warning us never to go there. We're almost certain it was sent from the future."

Jack walked back in, along with alternate Janet and White Sam, while she was speaking. They all seated themselves.

"Sounds like someone was smart enough to save your asses a lot of trouble," Jack replied.

"You were, actually. You sent the note, Jack. Or at least you wrote it and signed it," Blue Sam noted.

"Huh. I wonder from when."

"Jack, where is our daughter?"

"Vala took her while we get this mess straightened out."

"Janet, you said our encounter with the Aschen explained almost everything?" Blue Sam asked her.

"Oh, right. Here, we did go to P4C-970. We signed a treaty with the Aschen. They ruled here for a few years. Jack was opposed to the treaty from the outset, suspicious of their motives and the lack of answers to reasonable questions. The rest of SG-1 were excited about the alliance, and disregarded Jack's thoughts on the matter. When the treaty was finalized, he resigned, Sam and Daniel went to DC to work for the Aschen, and Teal'c went home to Chulak."

Alternate Janet and White Sam were listening intently.

"After the rest of SG-1 cast their lot with the Aschen instead of Jack, along with our Sam rejecting him in favor of Ambassador Faxon, that pretty much ended any friendship between Jack and the rest of the team."

"I, she did what?" Blue Sam asked.

"She had started dating Joe while the negotiations were going on. It got to the point where Jack would give impassioned, informed rebuttals, ask pertinent questions, only to be completely ignored by his team, and Sam shared Joe's enthusiasm to get a deal done. When the treaty was signed, Jack retired, asked her out, and she blew him off."

"Oh, God," Blue Sam said in disbelief.

"I still don't see how this differs from our reality. Obviously, you guys would be better off if the Aschen were still here. What happened?" White Sam decided she was quiet long enough.

Hailey, Jack, and Janet glared at her in disgust.

"After the treaty, Jack began investigating the Aschen on his own. He got off world when they opened the Space Terminal and went to a trading post planet where he met Vala. Then he came back, half dead after being tortured by Ba'al, I might add, and got a team together, now our current SG-1, to check out the Confederation planets. He missed Sam's wedding while he was out there. '194 was one of them, and they found the buried city there. They also found a few others, other evidence, and eventually a seventeenth Confederation planet, where a modern, Earth-like world had been slaughtered with their bioweapon because they resisted their sterilization program.

He still didn't have all of the pieces of the puzzle, so he had Jen rig up a way to hack into the Aschen core. He broke into Sam's lab to set it up. He was captured after he was done. Sam tried interrogating him, and then left him with the Aschen who experimented on him for months, giving him brain damage in the process."

Both Sam's looked ill.

"After he escaped, Thor finally arrived and translated the Volian newspapers telling of the infertility caused by the Aschen vaccines. He took Jack's team to find an Ancient repository where he stuck his head in to create a device to cure the sterility. Then they came back, destroyed the harvesters which were armed with the bioweapon, and rounded up any Aschen on the ground. They also grabbed Kinsey for the murder of General Hammond."

"Murder! No, it was a heart attack," White Sam squeaked.

"Actually, Sam, I told you how unlikely that was. Murder seems much more likely to me," Alternate Janet added.

"Wow. I'm glad we never went to '970. And I can definitely see why your Sam and Jack never got together," Blue Sam concluded, ashamed of her alternate self.

...

At that moment, the Colonel Carter from this reality walked in the door. She heard Blue Sam's comment, winced, and then took an open seat.

"Yes, well, as fun as this trip down memory lane may be, I'm sure all of you Carters have work to do to get yourselves home. I'll be around if anyone needs me."

Jack dismissed himself and left the briefing room.

"I'm just wondering what events took place to change our realities. How you got the evil Aschen while we got the good Aschen," White Sam continued on stubbornly. She received disbelieving looks from everyone in the room.

Sam recognized the denial and pig-headedness in her alternate self, having lived through it herself. She decided to knock some sense into White Sam.

"I'm guessing there weren't any divergences in our realities up until the treaty, which means they came afterwards. I'm willing to bet our treaty is the same as yours is then. We can always show it to your Joe and see if it's the same. He did help author it, negotiate it, and sign it, after all," Sam told her.

"Why, what does the treaty say?" White Sam asked with trepidation in her shaky voice.

"It agrees to up to a 50% sterilization rate of the Earth's population within five years of the treaty taking effect."

White Sam turned the color of her jacket.

"It's unbelievable how much that note saved our asses," Blue Sam mused out loud.

"Note?" Sam asked her.

"Yeah, a few weeks before we were scheduled to visit P4C-970, we got a note written by Jack from the future telling us to lock it out of the dialing computer."

"Wow. You got very lucky then. That must mean that in her reality, their future selves failed to send the note. Which means they are marching on toward the end of the human race on her Earth.

Listen, I know what you're thinking. I thought the same things. My denial ruined my life, and it has never recovered. You are probably in the same boat. I doubt I can help you fix your life, but we can help you save your world," Sam said to White Sam.

"I don't know. What if it isn't the same as here?"

"We will show your Borren and Joe the treaty and see how they react. I'll go ask the General what it will take to do that," Sam told her.

"No need, Colonel. The treaty and the tapes from some of our interrogation sessions are being sent down as we speak. I had a feeling you Sams would get all caught up in your fork-in-the-road, multiverse babble, and I knew Jen wasn't going to stop you. I had hopes for Thor, but he has no idea know how to handle a room full of gossiping women," Jack announced to the room as he reentered.

"On the contrary, O'Neill. I can simply beam myself back to my ship," Thor shot back with as close to a glare in his eyes as he was capable of.

Jack snorted. "I stand corrected. Thor knows exactly how to handle a room full of gossiping women."

"Now, campers, while we bring down this evidence and try to save another world from these damn Aschen, why don't we take a break from that to discuss how you will be getting everyone home?" Jack suggested to the room.

"Yes, sir," Hailey acknowledged with annoyance in her tone.

The crowd broke up and left the room. Hailey, Thor, and the Carters went to Hailey's lab to work out a solution. Alternate Janet was given use of a separate room, telling Jack that she wasn't comfortable sharing with Faxon and the Aschen after everything she learned. Janet went to get Lizzie from Vala.


	3. Possibilities

After tracing the paths on which their wormholes were traveling, the group in Hailey's lab discovered something interesting.

"I'm pretty sure the disturbance is P4C-970," Hailey announced.

"What!?" White Sam exclaimed. She was already mystified by this reality. Jack O'Neill had three stars? He was married to Janet and had a daughter with her? Why did this bother her so much? And then she found out that the Aschen might not be the generous souls she thought all along.

"A few years ago, we connected their Stargate to the black hole on P3W-451, taking out their world and most of the forces of the System Lords."

"The black hole couldn't physically come through the gate. Is it even possible that enough of the black hole's affect could be coming through while the gate is still intact?" Blue Sam asked.

"It must be, unless something else is going on," Hailey surmised.

"We are going to have to fly by there and take a look," Sam concluded.

...

Alternate Janet was bored sitting and waiting, so she walked down to the infirmary to see if anyone was in there that she recognized. She went to her old office door and saw her other self, Jack O'Neill's wife, sitting at the desk. She turned to see her in the doorway.

"Sorry to interrupt," Alternate Janet apologized.

"It's no problem. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Not really. I was just bored sitting there and wanted to stretch my legs. So you still work here? Isn't your Jack in Washington?"

"Yeah, but we have Asgard beams, so the commute home to DC only takes a second. It doesn't really matter where we work."

"Oh. That must be nice."

"It is."

Alternate Janet couldn't help but notice the glow of happiness coming from her other self. She had always known that if she allowed herself to, she could fall head over heels for Jack without even trying. Apparently, they worked pretty well together as a couple, too.

"You and Jack, huh? How is that?"

"It's incredible, actually. Everything you ever thought the man would be like, he is, and then about a thousand other things you would never expect."

"I gave up on that a long time ago. I guess you didn't? How in the hell did that happen?"

"Oh, I did too, but circumstances change," Janet replied smiling.

"I wonder if they could change for me, too. How did it happen?"

"It's hard to say for sure. A few weeks after the press conference announcing the treaty, I called him up and he was a mess. I was seriously worried about him, so I convinced him to come see Cassie because she missed him. After that, we started getting closer. I was pretty much his only friend in the world, so he came by to see us pretty often for the next few months. He was actually talking to me, opening up to me. He talked to me about Sam, asking why a bitter, pitiful old man ever thought it was a good idea to fall in love with a woman like her. He talked to me about Sara, Charlie, his past, his views on life, everything. Like you, I had long since given up on ever being with him, but getting to know him like that, I couldn't help falling for him.

Then he started his investigation of the Aschen, and we saw each other whenever we could, but he was gone a lot. After the liberation, he disappeared with Thor for over a year. There was a very good chance that we never would have seen him again. Thor had to clone his brain to save him from the last Ancient download. When he came back, we picked up where we left off. At this point, Sam was divorced and working with him again, so I kept an eye on him to see if he might still have feelings for her, and when I was pretty sure he didn't, I made a move on him. It turns out he had growing feelings for me too, so we got together, six months later we were engaged, and a few months after that we were married."

"Wow. I wonder why that didn't happen to me and my Jack."

"What happened the first time you called him after the treaty?"

"Well, he definitely sounded miserable. In fact, I was pretty sure he was going to hang up on me, so I just kept it light and promised to come up to the cabin sometime and see him. That was about a month after you called him though. One day, I'm guessing the day you did call him, I was thinking about it. Then Sam pleaded with me to join her, Joe, and one of Joe's politician friends for lunch. She was trying to set me up, and she wouldn't let it go, so I agreed. It was a waste of my time, except for the contacts I got to smooth the way for me to open my practice."

"Oh. Yeah, that was the day. Sam tried that with me too, but I told her that I wasn't interested. I wonder if the extra month made the difference."

"I'll bet it did," Jack added, joining the discussion after standing unnoticed in the doorway for a couple of minutes.

"What? Could it have made that much of a difference?"

"Oh, it sure could have. If you would have asked me before Janet called that day if I would even be alive in another month, I wouldn't have known what to tell you. When she called me, she had to fight to get me to agree to come visit her and Cassie. I had no intention of ever leaving the cabin again. After I spent time with them, I decided not to give up on life. In another month? I'm guessing the poor bastard had given up on it by then. I'll bet he never even checked out the Aschen in your world. Hell, I can't believe he's not dead by now."

"Are you saying that we were the reason you took on the Aschen, Jack?" Janet asked her husband. He had never told her that.

"Yes, snookums." He dodged her swat at his head as though he could see it coming a from mile away. Alternate Janet just smiled fondly.

"I didn't think I had any reason to live. I was planning on sitting on the dock and drinking until my liver couldn't take it any longer. Spending time with you and Cassie that first time after the treaty, I realized that I didn't have to wallow in my misery until I was dead. That there were still some people that believed in me and might need me to be around to watch out for them. I also figured that if the Aschen were a threat, people like you two didn't deserve to suffer if there was anything I could do about it."

"And because I was too late, you had already given up. We never got closer. We never got together. No one stopped the Aschen. Our world is being conquered by them as we speak," Alternate Janet thought out loud.

"We will send some help along with you, Janet," Jack told the alternate version of his wife.

"Thank you, Jack. Do you think this is possible in my reality?" She waved her hands between him and herself.

"I can't tell you for sure. I don't know what your conversations have been like, or how often you've visited him. And if he's given up, it would be difficult. I know how stubborn of a bastard he is. All I can say is, be there. If he can honestly say that you haven't left him behind, there's a chance," Jack advised.

"Well, I have gone up to the cabin with Cassie once or twice a year to catch up with him. I talk to him on the phone occasionally, and so does Cass."

"Like said, I don't know. I hope, for his sake, that you have a shot. Maybe I'll send you back with a note."

...

Standing outside the office were the three Carters and Jen. They were only moments behind Jack, but he never saw them. At first, they didn't want to interrupt, so they remained outside. Then they were too enthralled with the conversation to stop eavesdropping.

"I guess we know now where our worlds diverged. Janet's decision to accept or reject being set up, and to call or not call Jack one day a few weeks after the press conference, changed our fates, as incredible as that sounds," Sam whispered with guilt written all over her face.

White Sam just nodded. She was fighting off that same guilt. Her Jack had given up long ago. Janet wasn't there to pull him back. She had left him behind to be miserable and alone. All of SG-1 did. And it seemed he was right about the Aschen all along.

Jack turned around and noticed the four of them standing outside of Janet's office.

"For cryin' out loud, doesn't anyone knock anymore?" Jack complained.

"Sorry, sir. We wanted to find you to tell you what we found out. It appears that P4C-970 is the gravitational disturbance that created the bridge between our realities. We don't really know how that is possible. We're going to need to go there and see what exactly is going on," Sam informed him.

"Ok, run it by Dixon. It's his show, Carter. I'm just the eye candy," Jack quipped.


	4. Revelations

General Dixon sent SG-1 with Carter on the Odyssey to check out Aschen Prime. While they were gone, Jack took a copy of the treaty with him to interrogate Faxon and the alternate Aschen.

"Ambassador. Boring. Jallen," he greeted the three of them.

"General O'Neill, you know Jallen? In our world, you two haven't met." Faxon asked.

"Oh, we met quite a while ago. On Volia actually, where I killed him. I actually had the pleasure of killing Borren, too, but that was here on Earth."

Their eyes all went wide with panic.

"Don't worry, I won't be killing any of you. Provided I get your cooperation, that is. What do you make of this, Faxon? Carry around a copy of it in your pocket?"

The ambassador read the treaty.

"I didn't bring this with me, one of these two must have," Faxon responded firmly.

Jack slid the papers to Borren, who read them.

"No one is permitted to carry the details of the treaty. From whom did you get this?"

Jack just gave them a wolfish smile.

_Idiots. I guess having no need for tactical thinking makes their tongues looser. They probably got complacent, too._

"I ask the questions here."

...

"This is unbelievable," Sam said with awe in her voice.

"It's also a big problem," Hailey concluded.

The Odyssey sat back as far from Aschen Prime as possible, well out of orbit, to minimize the effect of the time dilation, but the images the two of them were seeing startled them.

Everything from the planets surface had been sucked through the Stargate, and now the planet itself was slowly breaking apart and being pulled through.

"According to the ship, the composition of the planet is mostly densely packed iron and other heavy metals, which would take forever to be torn apart to fit through the wormhole. Once the topsoil is pulled through, the Stargate will probably be the next thing to go. And if the Stargate goes, so does the bridge between universes. There would be no way to send the others home," Hailey continued.

"We don't have long, either. I'll bet within the day, the wormhole cuts off. We need to take as many readings as we can and get out of here. We can calculate the odds back home," Carter ordered.

"Yes, ma'am."

...

After finishing up with Faxon and the Aschen, Jack strolled into the briefing room with the treaty, tape of interrogating their own Aschen, and the tape of the interrogation he just conducted. He was surrounded by both alternate Sams, alternate Janet, and Thor. He handed White Sam and her Janet each a copy of the treaty.

"As you will see on the tape, they confirmed this is the same treaty that you have, so you might as well see what you agreed to."

"Oh, God," White Sam muttered after reading it.

Then he played all of the videos he brought along with him.

"So there is a bit of a silver lining here. Your world may not be as far along with the sterilization schedule. They planned to do it much more slowly here, but because of the chatter and the fact that they couldn't locate me most of the time, they rushed things along. I can send you with some of the healing devices to get everyone taken care of."

"Thank you, Jack," Alternate Janet replied.

"I can also provide you with intel on the layout of the harvesters, where to find their bioweapons, and a cure for the bioweapon. You will need a good plan to pull this off. If they find out you know anything, they will attack. We had the Asgard beaming us around to get on these harvesters. I don't know if you can count on their help."

"Understood, sir," White Sam answered almost absentmindedly.

"Thor, you think if you sent along a message to your alternate self, you could convince them to help out? Especially if you sent your cloning research along with it?"

"It is possible, O'Neill, but they may have already succumbed to the Replicators if they have been without your assistance."

"Let's hope not. We can also send along the plans for that Ancient weapon."

"You saved them from the Replicators, too?" White Sam asked incredulously. She almost felt like this hero in front of her was rubbing her nose in the fact that she chose the man capable of helping to end their race over the man capable of saving it, and saving the Asgard while he was at it.

"If they are dealing with human form Replicators, it may be too late. It probably is," Blue Sam chimed in.

"What?" Jack asked.

"You didn't encounter them? That's right, you guys probably never found Reese."

"Who?"

"Reese was an android we found maybe five years ago now. She was a perfect copy of a young girl. She was able to create Replicators out of materials around her. Daniel wanted to be her friend and she ended up nearly overrunning the base with Replicators. We sent her to Thor for study, and their Replicators learned about her from boarding Asgard ships, and started forming themselves in human form, like she was."

"That's what it did? Daniel wanted to be its friend?" Jack started laughing.

"I can see that. I'm glad SG-2 found it here. Wilkins wanted to blow it up with C4, but I just shot it with the Replicator weapon and it disintegrated. We don't know what they might be dealing with over there, but it's their best shot. Anyway kids, it's getting late. When the Odyssey gets back we will come up with a plan for you. You're dismissed."

...

After everyone else had vacated the room, Blue Sam called out to Jack.

"Jack, hang on a second."

"What's up, Carter?"

"I just... I wanted to apologize to you for what happened here. I know I didn't do it, but I feel terrible about it."

Jack chuckled. "You know what's funny. Our Carter has never apologized to me about it, not that she needs to, or that I'm bothered by it. Don't worry about it, Sam. It all worked out in the end." He gave her a smile that she hadn't ever seen on her Jack.

"Things are that good, huh?"

"The best. Look, don't feel bad for me. I'm not the one you could hurt. I'll give you a piece of advice. Be there for him. Always. He'll never ask that of you. He may not even acknowledge to himself that he wants or needs it. Just do it. If you can do that, everything will be just fine."

"Ok, Jack."

"See you in the morning."

...

The alternate Carters and Janet made their way down to Hailey's lab later that night when they heard that the Odyssey had returned. They walked in to see Sam and Jen closely studying some numbers.

"That wormhole was probably gone before we even got home," Hailey concluded.

"Yeah, and if it wasn't, at the rate that planet was being sucked in, there is zero chance it will be there in another 24 hours."

Blue Sam's heart dropped into her shoes.

"You mean we're stuck here?" Blue Sam asked from behind them, startling them.

"Yes. I'm sorry."


	5. Solutions

The next morning Jack, Dixon, SG-1, Thor, Alternate Janet, and all three Carters were seated in the briefing room.

"Sir, as you know, the way the multiverse works is that there are an infinite number of parallel universes that exist alongside our own, every action or decision resulting in a new reality. In order to travel between these universes, a bridge must be created..."

"Ah! Carter, I know you've told me this before. In fact, I'm sure all of you Carters have told me this at some point or another. Get on to the point, if you don't mind."

"Well, we have a big problem. According to my calculations, the Stargate on '970 has probably already disintegrated to the point where it could no longer sustain the wormhole. If it hasn't yet, it certainly will have by the time we would be ready to send them home," Sam replied.

"And that means..."

"That the method my alternate used to send those teams home in her reality won't work here, because the gravitational disturbance is gone, along with the bridge between our realities. They are stuck here, sir."

Everyone who didn't belong in this reality looked stricken.

"What about a quantum mirror?" Jack asked.

"Ours was destroyed years ago, and I'm assuming the others were too."

"Well, we can always make one. If stick my head in the headsucker again, I'm sure I could whip one up on Thor's ship. But how about the other realities?"

"We would need one on the other end to create the bridge," Blue Sam told him.

"Could anything else act as the other end of the bridge?" Jack asked.

"A Stargate!" Hailey blurted out.

"Are you suggesting that you can _make_ a quantum mirror that will connect to a Stargate?" White Sam asked in awe.

"Sure, why not?"

"Sir, the power required would be, well, astronomical is exactly the right word," Sam cautioned him.

"I'm sure it would, Carter, but we aren't trying to leave the bridge open, just use it once. It doesn't hurt to try. If nothing else, I make a new doohickey for you to play with in Nevada."

"Even if you can do it, we have no idea of which reality we came from," Blue Sam said.

"There must be some way to distinguish between universes. Something that we can measure. I mean, there are three of you Carters sitting here and none of you are exactly alike. And when that entropic cascade deal occurs, it's the alternate that gets zapped, not the original, which implies that there are differences."

The Sams, and even Hailey, appeared amazed, not only at the words coming out of his mouth, but at what he was proposing.

"You mean finding something we can measure on a temporal level? We aren't capable of anything like that," Carter replied.

"O'Neill, I believe we may be of assistance. The Asgard have the ability to detect temporal energy signatures. If your device can connect to these universes, we can scan them for a matching signature to your travelers."

"Buddy! I knew you would come through. It might still take a while since we will essentially be randomly dialing."

"Sir, if Thor can show us these signatures and compare them to the signature from this universe, we'll have a pretty good idea of how far away to start looking. It would cut down our search time considerably," Blue Sam added excitedly.

"Good. That's settled then. The next order of business is the parting gifts we send with you. Carter, blue Carter, I have a list of planets with Ancient goodies, including ZPMs, on them you can take with you. I'm sure it will come in useful."

She looked at him in shock and had to stop herself from kissing him. This wasn't her Jack. This trip has been harder than she expected on her personally, but she could be bringing back some great souvenirs. If she got home, anyway.

"That would be incredible, Jack. Thank you. I'll also give you everything I know about the Ori and Merlin's weapon in case you ever need it."

"Thanks, Carter. For you, Janet and Sam, we will come up with a plan for you, and give you the means to heal your population. But first, I want to see how this device is going to work. For now, Hailey and the Sams can go with Thor and check out these signatures."

...

Jack was on Thor's ship waiting for the Ancient download to kick in again so he could get to work on the device. While he was up there, the three Carters were gathered in Sam's old lab.

"I'm glad you're both here. I wanted to give you some advice that I learned the hard way," Sam told them.

"Actually, it's probably too late for you. I'm sure Jack is gone to you by now," she said to White Sam."

"What? I'm married..."

"Shut up already! I've heard enough of that crap from myself over the years. We should have trusted him. No one we will ever meet in our lives is more worthy of it. And we shouldn't have been afraid of our feelings, of losing control. I've had enough of being in control and miserable. What I wouldn't give now to lose myself again in those feelings we used to share with him. But I can't, and neither can you." White Sam was floored by the harsh rebuke, and from herself no less.

"But you can. And don't you dare screw it up. I can already tell you have the long distance thing going on, and you think it gives you some control. Maybe it does, for now, but you will regret it if you let that become more important to you than him. Believe me, I know," she warned Blue Sam, who was speechless.

Sam got up and walked out of her lab, leaving her alternates to contemplate her words.

...

Jack rose from Thor's healing pod and went to check out what he made. He had no idea what he made or what it did, but he was hoping he'd be able to tell by looking at it.

"This is it, Thor?"

"It is, O'Neill. According to the plans, you connect this to your dialing device, and use it to pass the wormhole to the various universes."

"Right. Well, let's get to it. First, we need a plan. You ready to head back?"

"I am."

...

"Ok, campers, apparently we connect our little doohickey here to the DHD, dial an address, and then use this to surf the channels. Sounds easy enough to me."

"How much power is it going to require?" Sam asked.

"A ZPM. This thing could actually burn up the ZPM pretty quickly, but we should be fine to make a handful of connections. We'll also be bringing another ZPM. I figure if we can dial up the Asgard directly in your reality, we may be able to be more convincing to get them to help you out," he said the last part to White Sam and Alternate Janet.

"So, what's the plan?" Alternate Janet asked him.

He went over how they defeated the harvesters, what buildings the Aschen controlled, how the healing device works.

"Obviously, plan A is to get help from your Asgard. If they refuse, or aren't capable of helping, then we will have to come up with a plan B."

"We may need to get your alternate to help us out, especially if we are dealing with the Asgard," White Sam said to Jack.

"I'm sure you will, and I don't know how open he will be to that either. Hopefully I can help convince him in my note. Janet, you should be the one to see him, that much I know."

"Ok," Alternate Janet said.

"When is the last time you saw him?"

"Not long ago, actually, probably a few weeks before we came here."

"How was he? What was he doing?"

"He was...about the same. When I walked up by the dock to greet him, I heard him speaking Russian on the phone with someone, but other than that, nothing was unusual."

_Russian?_

"Did he say who it was? Or did you hear?"

"He said it was a Colonel Tsaryov that he knew from a long time ago. He was considering taking a trip to visit him."

Jack's eyes got big, and he looked over at Wilkins who also knew Tsaryov well.

"Well, I might know why your universe never got the note from the future then. Tsaryov is a Russian assassin that Wilkins and I have worked with in the past. In return for his help with a couple of ops in Soviet territories, we had to help him out on a couple of missions. They were not enjoyable missions, and most people that worked with him didn't make it out. If my alternate decided to take a mission with him, it would probably be with the intention of not coming back."

Sam, White Sam, and Alternate Janet all looked horrified.

Blue Sam was also lost in thought.

_I guess I know what decision he ends up making. In my universe, he must have decided against the mission, and one day sent a note back in time that saved our asses. In hers, he accepted the mission and probably wasn't even around to write the note._

"I hope we aren't too late," Alternate Janet said with panic in her voice.

"Me too. My letter is going to have to be pretty convincing. Let's get this gadget hooked up and start moving out right away. Get yourselves ready to go. Dismissed."


	6. Goodbyes

"Alright, campers, we have the new doodad hooked up to the DHD. We ready to get going?"

All three Sams looked on in amazement. This set up had the two ZPMs connected to it, one exclusively to power the new device, and the other for dialing other galaxies. They dialed the Alpha site and started adjusting the device, while Thor scanned the temporal signatures as they scrolled through the universes.

"O'Neill, we have found a match." Thor stopped him after about ten minutes of searching.

"Alpha site, this is Sierra Golf Charlie. We want to test Colonel Carter's iris code. Can you authenticate?"

"Yes, sir."

"Send your IDC, Colonel."

Blue Sam entered it into her GDO and got a valid response.

"Looks like this the one."

Blue Sam came up to Jack and gave him a crushing hug.

"I'm glad that you're happy, Jack. And I'm sorry."

"Enough of that, Sam. You know what to do. Good luck over there."

Blue Sam walked up the ramp and then turned to look back at him one more time before stepping through gate.

...

Shortly after Blue Sam left, they prepared the second group and gathered them in the gate room.

"O'Neill, we have dialed the address for Othalla and matched the temporal signatures, but there is no one present on the planet."

"Crap, too late?"

"Perhaps. It is also possible they have moved to a different galaxy to flee the Replicators. We had always kept an eye on the Othala Galaxy because of the presence of planets plentiful in neutronium. I know the address to the planet, Orilla, that we had most extensively researched."

"Try it, Thor."

They dialed up Orilla, and Thor sent his probe through. There were signs of Asgard civilization, and also signs of an active Replicator attack.

"I believe they are under attack by the Replicators. I will fire my weapon through the Stargate."

Thor adjusted the power to spread the effect of the blast over the entire planet and into orbit. He fired, the pulse traveling through the gate and across universes. Then he checked the visual from his probe again.

"O'Neill, it appears that the Replicators have been defeated."

"Try to call someone over there."

Thor got on his communicator. "I am Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet. I am contacting you from a universe parallel to your own."

He got a response.

"I am also Thor. Are you responsible for the attack on the Replicators?"

"I am. We have a great deal to discuss."

The Thors talked about the Earth, Aschen, Replicators, clone degradation, and everything that has been worked out.

"As you are probably aware, Earth has requested no assistance from the Asgard in some time. If we cannot get their world leaders to make the request, we will at least need O'Neill, as Earth Ambassador to the Asgard. Then I can present this to the Council."

"Understood. We are confident that we will able to get O'Neill's cooperation. For the moment, however, we wish to transport these travelers that came from your universe over to you. We do not have the means to keep this connection open indefinitely. Remember, the prisoners must be kept secure."

"As you wish. We will be beam them aboard as soon as they arrive."

"Very well."

"Well, looks like this is the end of the ride," Jack announced to the five of them. The Aschen and Faxon were in restraints, and White Sam and Alternate Janet were standing next to Jack. Jack gave White Sam a quick hug.

"Good luck out there, Carter."

Before she even knew how to respond, Jack turned to his wife's alternate.

"Janet, you will probably have to fight him to get what you want. You will really have to want it. But take this, hopefully it will help."

He handed her an envelope with Jack's name written on it in his own handwriting.

"Thank you, Jack. I'm so happy you've found peace here, and I hope I can do the same for you back home."

"Good luck." He wrapped her in a tight hug.

"You have a go, folks."

The five of them then stepped through the wormhole.

Jack left the gate room and was headed back upstairs.

"Sir."

He stopped at the top of the stairs and found Carter right behind him.

"Yes, Carter?"

He saw tears building in her eyes and had a feeling he knew what was coming. She just stood there silently, staring at him with big, blue eyes full of guilt and regret.

"C'mere."

He enveloped her into a firm hug and her dam burst, tears pouring down her face, soaking the shoulder of his green BDU jacket.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I'm so sorry."

"It's ok. I know," Jack whispered into her ear. He held her for a few minutes until the tears subsided.

"Better?"

She nodded.

"Good. It's all water under the bridge, Sam. No matter what happened, I'm always here for you. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"Ok."

"Ok. Good night, Carter."


	7. Divergent Paths

**Blue Sam's Universe**

Samantha Carter was sitting on her couch with the television on but wasn't watching it. She was contemplating the events of the past few days and several years.

In her universe, Jack must have turned down the suicide mission, which meant he was still around to send that warning note at some point in the future. She had always wondered about that note since it came through the gate that day seven years ago. Now that she knew exactly what it prevented, she couldn't believe how relieved she was that they got it.

She was also pondering her own actions in these alternate realities. That she had it in her somewhere to dismiss and abandon Jack like that still broke her heart every time she thought about it. What made it worse, though, is that she could see how it happened.

When they met the Aschen on Volia, she remembered how excited she was about the prospect of an alliance with them. She also remembered the interest she had in Ambassador Faxon. She wondered if maybe he could be the guy that would free her from her infatuation with her commanding officer. That she was only spared such a dismal fate by a note, sent by Jack of all people, chilled her to the bone.

Jack hung up his phone, joined her on the couch, and apparently noticed her pensive expression.

"Sam, it didn't happen here. You have no way to know how things would have played out, or what other forks in the road we would have come to that would have changed things."

"We could have ended up like either one of those realities. A world with Aschen technology and no children, no future, or a world with Asgard beams on street corners, Thor pretty much living in orbit, no Goa'uld, no Ori, no Aschen," Sam mused aloud, ignoring Jack's comments.

"I do miss old Thor."

"You know, in the reality we went to, you were happier than I've ever seen you. You were married to Janet."

"Oh."

She looked at him sharply. "You don't sound too surprised?"

"Well, I'm not that surprised, really. After what you told me what happened, I figured I wouldn't have been with you. And Janet was an amazing woman. If I hadn't fallen for you first, I'm sure I could have fallen for her, given the chance. I would have been surprised if she wanted anything to do with me, but I'm surprised you do too."

She glared at him.

"Come on, Sam. I had plenty of time to make a move on her if I was going to, but I was waiting for you. You have no reason to be jealous. We're here now, and that's what matters. We've been through enough. Let's not dwell on things that never even happened to us." He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him.

...

**White Sam's Universe**

Janet Fraiser walked up the driveway of the cabin when Jack walked out of his door carrying a black duffle bag.

"Doc, what brings you back my way so soon? You were just here a few weeks ago."

"Hi, Jack. There's something I wanted to talk to you about. You going somewhere?"

"I was just taking this out to the truck. Tomorrow, I'm going to head out to meet up with that Russian buddy I told you about."

Janet turned pale and tears built up in her eyes.

She immediately walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I'm sorry I haven't been here for you," she said, crying onto his chest.

"What are you talking about? You and Cassie are the only ones who have been here. I haven't seen any of the others in six years."

"I should have come more often. I should have come sooner."

"What's up, Janet? What's this all about?"

"I just got back from a trip through the gate, and we were accidentally sent to an alternate reality. In that reality, you led a team that liberated Earth from the Aschen a few years ago. I've never seen you happier than you were there. I want you to have that here, too."

She handed him the envelope. He noticed it had his name on it, written in his own handwriting. He opened it and read the letter.

_Jack,_

_This is a bit strange, writing a letter to myself. But hell, with everything we've seen, what's another bizarre experience?_

_I know what you're going through. I was going through it too, all of those years ago, until Janet called me. She saved me, brought me back to life. Your Janet wants to do that too. You just have to let her._

_She is the one that was always there and the one that always will be. She is the one that didn't leave you behind and never would. She is the one that can bring you happiness that you never thought you deserved or even knew was possible. Listen to her when she talks to you about this. Trust me. It will be well worth it. I know you feel the need to protect yourself from more pain, but you have no need to protect yourself from her._

_They are also going to need you to lend a hand in getting rid of the Aschen, but I suspect Thor will be doing the heavy lifting. All I can say is, your world is definitely worth saving now, so get off your ass and do it._

_I guess that's all. Suck it up, you old bastard. And look at the picture. You can have that too._

_Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill, USAF_

He then looked at the photo that was in the envelope with the letter. Jack was holding Lizzie in his left arm with his right around Janet's shoulders, and Cassie was squeezed in on his left side. They were in front of the pond at the cabin. The smiles they all wore brightened their whole faces.

Jack was stunned. He was looking at this happy family in the picture and noticed that he himself was standing there hung over, hadn't shaved in two weeks, was ready to go die in a blaze of glory, and was right in front of the woman that could give him what was in the photo.

"What are you saying? That you want this?" he asked in utter disbelief, handing her the photo.

"Not today. But I wouldn't be upset if we ended up there." She smiled at him sheepishly.

"I'm a train wreck, Janet."

"I know, Jack. We need time. But I will be here for you every step of the way."

"Well, I can't turn that down. Thank you. And you don't have any reason to apologize to me. Like I said, you are the only one that has even been here since the treaty. Now, what's this about saving the world?"

...

**Our Separate Ways Universe**

Janet got back in bed next to her husband after checking to make sure Lizzie wasn't awoken by their late night activities.

"I noticed you and Sam had a little heart-to-heart today, after all of the alternates left."

"Oh, you saw that?"

"Yeah, I was waiting for you in the control room and was going to meet you on the stairs. I saw you around the corner, so I just went back to the control room and waited."

"I guess seeing her other selves got her feeling guilty about what happened, and with the way things turned out, I really don't think she needs to feel guilty about it anymore. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"I feel terrible for your alternate that's been sitting alone at the cabin all of these years. I hope your note works for them."

"Me too. I feel bad for both of my alternates."

"Why? The other one has Sam."

"He doesn't have you."

She looked at him with her jaw hanging open, clearly surprised by his comment.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just, why would he need me when he has her?"

"Janet, just because I loved her first, doesn't mean she would be my first choice in hindsight. You have no idea how happy you make me, and I very much doubt she is doing the same for him."

She just smiled at him.

"Thank you, honey, but you don't know that."

"Oh, I can be pretty certain. Look, I have no doubt he can be content, or even happy, with what she can and is willing to offer him. But you offer me everything. Besides, the poor bastard has no idea what she's capable of doing to him. Hell, she might not know either. I'm glad I found out when I did. Just because she didn't have the same opportunity that the Sam here did, that doesn't mean another opportunity won't come up. And you aren't there to save him if it does. I'm just glad you decided to save me when you did, or look at all of the hell we would still be dealing with."

"Jack..."

"I love you, and I'm very happy with the path we chose."

...

**White Sam's Universe - One Month Later**

With the help of the Asgard and an alternate Jack O'Neill, their planet has been freed from the Aschen. Their population was no longer sterile. Sam was in Washington to be honored, ironically enough, along with Jack and Janet, for their part in liberating Earth. She looked over to see the aforementioned pair deep in conversation. Janet was giggling. Jack was smiling, probably for the first time in years. She didn't even bother suppressing the piercing in her chest it brought on. She figured that she deserved every bit of it at this point.

Sam was pondering how that note from the future, that would have saved them so much heartache, came to be in that other universe. Jack apparently wrote it, but she doubted it was his idea. It came through the Stargate, so it must have been sent back by a solar flare, which means she herself probably came up with the plan. She had always been wary of changing future events through time travel, not believing they had the right, and not knowing how the changes would help or hurt the future. But it's easy to believe that she would consider the end of the human race on Earth worth the risk of changing history.

Looking at it now, in three different realities, two of them never got the note, and yet neither was in danger of that worst case scenario. In both of those realities, the Earth gained closer relations with the Asgard, who were still alive and well, Jack O'Neill and Janet Fraiser were smiling, and Sam Carter was miserable.

Was it a selfish decision to send the note? In the one universe that did get it, the Asgard were dead, Janet was dead, they found new enemies in the Ori, but Sam was happy. She had Jack. While her alternate self was better off, it seemed everyone else was worse off, maybe even Jack. She wondered if they really had the right to send the note after all.


End file.
